# sale

Pronunciation: say "SAYL" /seːl/

## Noun

1. The transfer of goods or services to a buyer in return for money or credit.
   - Simple: The act of giving goods or services to someone in exchange for money.
   - _The sale of the company involved months of careful negotiation._
   - _No money or credit ever changed hands, so legally there was no sale._
2. Shortened form of discount sale. — Ellipsis of discount sale (“the sale of goods at reduced prices”).
   - Simple: Short form of discount sale. It means goods sold at lower prices for a while.
   - _The winter sale starts tomorrow with deep markdowns across the store._
   - _She waited for the sale before buying the coat she wanted._
3. The act of putting something up for auction so that it goes to the highest bidder.
   - Simple: The act of offering something so it can be bought by the person who offers the most money.
   - _The estate's contents went to public sale, each lot awarded to the highest bidder._
   - _Bidding at the sale climbed steadily until only one buyer remained._
4. In the plural, the business activity of selling a company's products, or the department responsible for it.
   - Simple: The job of selling a company's products, or the part of the company that does it.
   - _After two years in customer support, she moved into sales and doubled her income._
   - _The head of sales presented the new pricing plan to the board._

## Noun

5. A hall or large chamber within a building. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A large room or hall in a building.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4** — Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- ("to grab") is the ultimate root. It led to Proto-Germanic *salō ("delivery") and Old Norse sala, which gave Old English sala ("act of selling, sale"). That became Middle English sale.
**Meaning 5** — Proto-Indo-European *sel- ("home, dwelling, village") gave Proto-Germanic *salą ("house, hall"), which became Old English sæl ("room, hall, castle") and then Middle English sale. Dutch zaal, German Saal, and Swedish sal are cognates, and salon and saloon are related.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sale (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).